


Chris

by MisMiz (Jaaaaack51)



Series: Perchance to Dream [2]
Category: The Magnificent Seven (TV)
Genre: Daydream Believers, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Magnificent Seven AU: ATF, Pirates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 1999-08-13
Updated: 1999-08-13
Packaged: 2018-04-26 10:10:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5000740
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jaaaaack51/pseuds/MisMiz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>To sleep perchance to dream. Just make sure you're alone when you do it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Chris

"Sixteen men on a dead man's chest. Yo ho ho..."

"And a bottle of rum." Captain Chris Larabee finished with a flourish, holding said bottle out to Bloody Buck Wilmington as he approached. 

Bloody Buck. Named not for his prowess in battle, but for the deadly swathe he cut through the hearts of their female captives. Damn women were always falling into Buck's arms, going home with silly smiles on their faces after they'd been ransomed by their families. But since Chris and the rest of the crew went home with lots and lots of gold in their pockets, they couldn't really complain. The only people who were unhappy with the situation were the husbands and fathers of the women. Like Chris gave a damn about that.

"Thanks mate. Swabbing the poopdeck is thirsty work." Buck tossed his mop aside and reached out to take the proffered bottle. He tilted his head back and let the cool rum run down his throat. Licking a few stray drops off his mustache, Buck handed the bottle back to his captain and picked up the mop again with a sigh.

"I thought it was Ezra's turn to do that." Chris regarded his companion with a slight frown.

Buck smiled sheepishly. "Made the mistake of betting against him in the bilge rat races last night." 

"Ah." Chris replied knowingly. Slick Ezra's gambling skills were legendary. As were his cheating skills. They had all lost to him at one time or another. Which was how the southern pirate had wound up with the pretty red captain's jacket he was so fond of wearing. Although it was as much as your life was worth to bring that up around the captain. It was still something of a sore point with Chris. A fact that added immensely to the pleasure Mr. Slick Ezra Standish derived from the wearing of that particular item of clothing.

"You seen Vin around anywhere?" Chris asked, idly leaning against the rigging as he watched Buck wield the mop with surprising efficiency. The tall, handsome scalawag was humming as he worked. Too bad he couldn't carry a tune in a bucket. But it was no worse than when the first mate played his harmonica. Attempted to play, Chris amended with a rueful smile. 

"Yep. He 's playing lookout. You know how he likes to do that." Chris followed Buck's pointing finger to the crow's nest, where he could just make out the figure of his first mate, Vin Tanner, ever present spyglass in hand. 

The lean, blue eyed pirate could often be found up there, reveling in the freedom offered by swift ocean breezes and the endless expanse of horizon. Vin had an almost uncanny affinity for the stars. He seldom needed to refer to maps or charts as they sailed the seven seas. The townspeople swore he could read the waves below and the heavens above the way other people read books. And Chris wasn't entirely certain they were wrong.

Many was the night he and his first mate had sat on the deck below, looking up at the stars as they sipped a glass of whiskey. Occasionally they would speak of how they and the rest of the crew had come to be here in this place. On this ship, The Magnificent. Sailing the seas. Together. But mostly they just sat, enjoying the quiet companionship and unspoken understanding they shared.  
  
"Hope he finds something soon. The crew's starting to get a bit restless." 

It had been several weeks since their last prize had been taken. A Spanish galleon, loaded down with treasure. And with important documents. Something which had pleased Governor Travis to no end. Technically, Chris and his crew were privateers rather than pirates. But that was just a matter of perspective. It all depended on which side you were on when the battle lines were drawn. Chris thought he and his men were on the right side. So pirate or privateer, it made no difference to him. Although, personally, Chris thought his crew all secretly preferred pirate. Privateer just didn't have the same ring.

"Yeah. Damn kid's gonna drive us all up the rigging if we don't see some action soon." Buck chuckled affectionately. He'd taken the newest, and youngest, crewmember under his wing from the start. The two of them had a special bond. Something neither man would admit to, even under the worst torture. But they weren't fooling anyone. "And I heard Nathan complaining the other day that he hasn't had to patch up anything worse than a splinter in over a month." Buck shook his head, still chuckling slightly. 

As if on cue, Nathan Jackson and JD Dunne appeared from behind a stack of barrels. At the sight of Buck and the Captain, JD began running towards them. He was plainly excited about something. "Buck! Captain! Wait til you hear!"

"JD. Son, how many times do I gotta tell you? Never run on a wet deck cause you might slip and...fall." Buck concluded in exasperation as he and Chris watched JD's feet slip out from under him. The young pirate ended up sprawled at Buck's feet. Still scolding, the older man reached out a hand and hauled a rather dazed looking JD to his feet. 

"Here you go, JD" Nathan walked up and held out a black tricorn hat with a jaunty red feather to the young man before he began checking for injuries. As ship's healer this was second nature to him. It was his job to see that the crew stayed in one piece. Not an easy task with these particular men and their penchant for trouble. 

"Aw geez, kid. When are you gonna get a real pirate hat? That thing makes you look like Peter Pan."

"The famous pirate, Black Bat Masterson wore a hat just like this one." JD said hotly, his bruises forgotten momentarily as he took up the gauntlet.

"And besides, Captain Hook was a pirate and he wore a feather in his hat." JD added in a 'so there' kind of tone.

"He wore a plume, JD. Peter Pan wore a feather." Buck replied smugly. 

Chris ignored the familiar bickering and turned to Nathan, who had apparently decided JD would live and was casting a worried frown in Chris' direction.

"What is it, Nathan?" Chris asked, straightening up from where he'd been leaning against the rigging.

"Josiah said he's seen the crows again." Nathan spoke tersely.

That meant trouble was coming. Chris frowned.

"Ahoy! Ship coming in on the starboard side. It's the Royal James." Vin's shout caused them all to look in the direction of the crow's nest where the first mate could be seen, climbing nimbly down from the steep height. 

"Buck. You go take over the helm and send Josiah to me. Nathan, you go check the condition of our cannons and some of the other equipment we might need. JD, you go tell Ezra I need to see him and then go help Nathan." 

Chris was in his element. Barking orders. Making plans. Getting ready for action. He ran a finger over the edge of his cutlass, testing its sharpness, while he waited for his orders to be carried out.

"Aye aye, Captain." The three men chorused, before dispersing to carry out their various duties.

"Hey there, sailor." Vin walked up and smiled briefly before a worried frown settled over his features. The gold hoop in his ear glinted as it caught the afternoon sun. "We got trouble coming. James is bad news. And he's out for your blood." 

"I know. You feeling up to a good fight?" Chris' own smile was slightly feral. He didn't like James and his men. And people Chris Larabee disliked had a way of winding up dead more often than not.

"A fight? You fellows are too good to this sinner." One eyed Josiah walked up, grim amusement playing across his craggy features. The large ex preacher did enjoy a good brawl. Even if it did make him feel guilty afterwards. But the crows added an element of surprise that had the big pirate on edge. They always meant trouble. Josiah wasn't worried about himself. Death was an old friend he'd courted many times over the years. But now he had friends that he cared about and he didn't want to see the crows come for them.

"The crows tell you anything helpful, Josiah?" Chris wasn't surprised when the other man merely sighed and shook his head, adjusting the black patch that covered one eye, absently. 

"Helpful? My dear Captain Larabee, you ask too much." The light tone and langorous drawl of Ezra Standish were belied by the bright sharpness of the green eyes. The dapper pirate was attired in his usual costume of ruffled shirt, velvet coat, and immaculate trousers. His boots were shiny enough to see your refection in. Or shiny enough to shave by, as Buck liked to say. Chris didn't know how Ezra did it. The captain preferred to wear plain, unadorned black. For many reasons.

"I'm glad to hear you say that, Ezra. Then you won't be surprised when I ask you to talk your way onto James' ship."

Ezra wrinkled his nose. "Surely you jest."

"You ever known him to do that?" Vin asked laconically, blue eyes gleaming with suppressed amusement.

"I daresay you are right, Mr. Tanner. Our captain is noted for many fine qualities, but a sense of humor is not amongst them." The southern pirate sighed theatrically. 

"If you two are finished?" Chris asked pointedly. "You know Lucas, the nephew, right?" He watched as Ezra curled his lip in disgust.  
  
"To my everlasting regret. Although, if you like the crazy, cretinous, stone cold killer type, I suppose he was not so bad."

"Good. Then he should be able to vouch for you to his uncle." Chris tapped his fingers impatiently against the hilt of his compass as he spoke. 

"Goody." Ezra muttered under his breath. "Uh..perhaps you would care to enlighten me as to your plan?" he added when Chris's eyes narrowed. Threats of keelhauling and gangplanks lurked just underneath the icy stare.

"You'll love it Ezra. It involves you adrift in a lifeboat. Disguises. Double crosses. It'll be fun." Chris's smile did little to alleviate Ezra's sudden feeling of impending doom.  
************************************  
"Scurvy scum!"  
  
"Lily livered coward."  
  
"Fire at will."  
  
The ringing of cutlasses, the roar of the cannons, and the shouts of the two crews all combined to make a cacophony of sound that was like music to Chris Larabee's ears. His blood sang as he fought his way ever closer to Stuart James. James and Chris had been at odds ever since the man had tried to take over the town where Governor Travis' daughter-in-law made her home and Chris had stopped him from doing it. The blond pirate captain had a grudging respect for the pretty young widow. And if he'd spent one or two nights wondering what Mary Travis would look like with her hair down...Well, that was nobody's business but his own.

He had almost reached James when a sudden scream made him turn. Mary Travis was struggling in the hold of two burly, unkempt pirates. Part of James' crew. Damn the arrogant old son of a bitch. Using innocent women to save his neck. Chris would make him pay for this. Somehow. He stared at the old pirate coldly.

"You just signed your death warrant, you know." Chris told him conversationally.

"No. You sign hers if you don't call your men off now." Stuart James wore a smug expression, tinged with a vicious satisfaction. 

Chris hesitated. He glanced back to where Mary was being held and saw Vin standing a few yards away from her. His first mate nodded and Chris turned back around. There had to be something they could do. Some way to salvage this situation. Maybe if...  
**************************************  
"Hey there, Dread Pirate Roberts or whoever you are. Time to wake up." The voice of Vin Tanner pierced the fog of sleep that had enveloped Chris Larabee. 

"Huh?" He opened his eyes to find the sharpshooter gazing down at him, amusement plain to see in his expression.

"You're gonna have to rescue the fair Mrs. Travis another time. Ezra just called in. He and Buck need some back up."

"I suppose you're not just going to forget about this, are you?" Chris asked grumpily.

"Nope. Not a chance, sailor." Vin dodged the punch Chris aimed in his direction and grinned.

"Did you have a parrot? Maybe me and the boys can chip in and get you one for Christmas. I bet it'd look real pretty on your shoulder."

"Oh shut up." 

"Aye aye, Captain." 

With a resigned sigh, Chris Larabee followed the snickering sharpshooter out the door. He was never going to hear the end of this.

The End


End file.
